Storage-battery plate.



No] 880,423* TATBNTEDTEB. 25,1908.

A. o'. TATA. STORAGE BATTERY PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29, 1907.

@if '0ltON'l`O, UX'llrRO, CAADA, ASSIGNGH TO 'lli'lhl ELECTROLYTIC @if JIERltA, ,i CGRPORTIO'N OF NEW YORK.

STORAGEB ATTERY PLATE No.v GGG Speeifieetion of Letters iatent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1906.

Application tiled October 29. 1907. Serial No. 399642 -f age battery plates in which the anodes and eathodcs are oi strip or ribbon like lorin interleaved and separated lroin eaeh other by strips ot insulating inedia, the. anodes all being connected together to a connnon conductor at one end and the eathodes similarly connected together at the other end, sue-h, fo instance, as is disclosed in a prior application Yliled bj nie in the U. S. Patent (')ll'ice on the ist day ot December, 1905, bearing Serial No. 289,796, and it has i'oi its objects-- viirst, to cheapen andl sinipli'ty the entire structure. Second, to minimize, -iis irai' as possible, the structural size of the platte. Third, i provide deiaehable means applioable to both of the lateral faces of the elcetiode plate :tor holding or scouring the active material in place between the anodes and cathodes. Fourth. to provide a structural plate of this type which may be quickly and easily dismantled, il need he.

My invention will be fully understood by reerring` to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a side elevz'itional view oll one of niy complete electrode plates,v :i part thereol' being broken away better illustrate the. in ternal structure. Fig 2 is a vertical sectional vieu' taken through the lower part ol'- Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a det-ail side elevational View' of one olV tho porous insulating strips which separate the anodes and oathodos from each other and sustain the active inaterial, as seen looking at Fig. -l l'roin righ t to lei't in tho direction ol' the arrows. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through Fig.

2 on the broken line fl-4 and as seen looking tlioreat troni right to lel't in the direction oiZ .f

the arrows, thelower part ol the porous proteeting plate, however, not beiifg seen in this View o'l' the drawings.

.in the above-1i ained application the anodes and cathodes are all described as being.r of strip or ribbon like torni, but grooved in their lateral faces so as to constitute supporting chambers or Channels for the active material7 and such anodes and cathodes are separated i'roin each other' by interleaved or iliterrelated strips ot' porous insulating inate.- rial, such as kaolin, and all ot the parts hound together by binding blocks and nuts secured to the opposite ends ot the eonnnon conductors, the structural arrangement being such that by virtue ot the binding action oi the paris the active material is held in place by the porous strips and the electrolyte is ali'orded access thereto upon the lateral i'aces of the plate through the edges of the porous separating media.

,ln an application bearing Serial No. 399,611 and 'tiled ot even date herewith, l. have disclosed a l'urther inoditication or' the belore-nientioned invention, in which I have reversed the construction ol' the anode and cathode strips and the porous insulating iuedia respectively; that is to say, I have construct ed the insulating mediav as of porous strips grooved on their opposite faces so as to constitute the support for the active inaterial, and the unodes and cathodes aie'in the nature ot' thin inetal strips all held together by binding blocks, the electrolyte having access as bel'ore to the active material on the lateral laces olI the plate through the porous material.

in the present invention ,l have further siinplilied such a hitunctional electrode plate, as will he uiade apparent on inspection of tho drawings and especial reference thereto, in which, u, u. 1 represent thin narrow conducting anode strips and c, c, c, siinilar conducting cathode strips connected, one set at one end vto the upper conducting bar or rod and the other set to the lower bar or rod l). These bars or rods are sereiv-threzuled at their opposite ends 'at c, c, c, c and provided with nutsjhfhfkf, d, d being binding blocks as belore and i, i, spacing blocks.

g, q. represent relatively thin strips ol porous insulating inaterial, such as kaolin, and preferably ot' the saine width as the anode and cathode strips ,f1- and ci said insusponding plane surfaces of the insulating.

spacing washers on the rods b, b'. l apparent that such a structural electrode lating strips being provided with ledges or shou ders at their lower vends adapting them to sustain the active material Z.

p re resents a porous medium, preferably a thin raolin plate adapted to cover the lateral faces ofthe electrode plate proper, the entire plate when assembled in the manner shown in Fig. l being such that these plates, one or more on each'face, will fit accurately against the lateral edges of the anode and cathode strips c, a, c, c, and the insulating porous strips g, g, so as to constitute retaining means for preventing the active material from dro 'ping out. These plates are illustrated as eing heldin position in the present instance by fiexible rubber bands s, s, two or more. The entire structural plate when assembled is bound together by the bars' or rods b, l), and nuts f, ,acting upon the binding blocks d, d, and t e soft rubber cushions h, h, in the same manner as disclosed in the before mentioned application, i, t' being conducting It will be ate is of so simple a nature that it may be entirely dismantled, if need be, and any part thereof repaired or replaced; It will also be apparent that by'reason of the compact nature of the anode and cathode strips and of the plane surfaces thereof and corremedia .or the strips g, g, an electrode plate of a given capacity may be of relatively smaller area than either of the electrode plates disclosed in thebefore-mentioned applications. Such a structural electrode plate also permits of a free and ready examination of any part thereof at any time on removal of the protecting late or plates p, '2).

I do not imit my invention to the specific structural means of protecting or retaining the active material between the anode and cathode strips cfa bifunctional` electrode plate, as I believe l am entitledl broadly to claim means which is not primarily a part of such plate and which means shall be soiconstructed as to whollyr cover theN entire lateral faces of the plate, Whether the 'same be in the nature of porous plates'likethose disclosed in the drawings, or of any material which will by capillary;V actionffconvey the electrolyte to the active material betweenthe anodes andA cathodes, and at the saine time act mechanically to preventthe active material from falling' out from between the anodes and cathodes and the porous insulating media, and my claims are generic as to this feature. Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedJStateSis-f 1. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing `elements comprising anode and cathode stri s and interleaved porous insulating medlia; vin combination with porous elements, substantially as described.

retaining plates adapted tovbe held against the edges of said elements, substantially as described.

2. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing elements comprising anode and cathode strips and interleaved porous insulating strips, all bound together in one compact mass; in combination with porous retaining plates provided with means for4 securing them in place against the edges of said elements, substantially as described.

3. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing elements comprising anode and cathode strips separated from each other by thin porous insulating strips; in combination 30 with active material between said setsv ofV strips, and means for .securely binding or holding the same in compact relation; together with means applied to the edges of ,said elements for preventing the active mag5 terial from being released, substantially as described. v v

4. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing elements comprisinginterleaved an'ode and cathode strips supported each set 90 by a separate c onducting bar or rod; porous insulating strips of like width located Ibetween the first-named strips and active material located on the opposite faces of the 4anode and cathode strips; in combination 95` with means for binding saidstrips firmly tov gether, and means applied to the edges of the said elements for holding the vactive material in place, substantially I'as described.

5. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing elements comprising interleaved anode and cathode strips andisimilar porousinsula'ting strips; independent conducting bars or rods for the anode and cathode strips, and means applied to the edges of said elements for preventing the active material from being released, substantially as described. Y y

6. A b'ifunctional storage. battery plate, embracing elements comprising interleaved anode and cathode strips separated by porousl insulating strips; in combination with liquid conveying protecting means applied to the edges of said elements, substantially as describedl 11'5 7. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing elements comprising strip like anodes and catho'des eonnectedin multiple to independent conducting bars or rods and separated from each other by porous insulating media; in combination with retaining means detachably secured to-the edges of the S. A bifunctional storage battery plate, embracing the following elements; interleavedanode and cathode strips separated `from each other by porous insulating strips of like width; a conducting bar or rod at each end of the plate connected one to the` anode strips and the other to the cathode 

